Shelf awareness meyer brings his considerable skills to another infamous renaissance family, the borgias and a fresh look into the machinations of power in renaissance italy. Puzo spent over twenty years working on the book off and on, while he wrote others. In short, a gripping, yet surprisingly heartfelt, historical chronicle. The history is very thorough, starting with a discussion of the renaissance papacy, the papal states in the 15th century, and the pontificate of calixtus iii. The borgias they burst out of obscurity in spain not only to capture the great prize of the papacy, but to do so twice.
Nevertheless, it struggles to make any significant. Thanks to the actions of the middle pair, the family name is associated with greed, power, lust, and murder. On the one hand, it is a tale of an obscure spanish family determined to seek its fortune in a foreign land. Family affairs the most scandalous popes in history. In 1492 he became pope himself, taking the name alexander vi. The real family behind the showtimes the borgias was even wilder and more corrupt than in the cable television series. Sep 9, 2012 the borgias are the most infamous family of renaissance italy, and their history normally hinges around four key individuals.
Lucrezia borgia april 18, 1480june 24, 1519 was the illegitimate daughter of pope alexander vi rodrigo borgia by one of his mistresses. The election of alexander vi up to the death of alexander makes for the most exciting reading, while the last two chapters deal with the subsequent fortunes of the borgia dynasty and the. The borgias have become infamous for their ambition, violence, depravity, and allegations of incest, although the author makes clear that these allegations were likely to be unfounded. The powerful, voracious rodrigo borgia, better known to history as pope alexander vi, was the central. The reason the borgias have gone down in history as a synonym for abject crime and depravity, dal bello says, is that they were victims of an historic case of bad press. The house of the borgias produced two popes and many other political and church leaders. Pope calixtus iii, his nephew pope alexander iv, his son cesare and daughter lucrezia.
Power and fortune and millions of other books are available for instant access. The rise and fall of the most infamous family in history 9780897332385. He gives a very clear picture of these complicated italian power politics which can be very confusing with their shifting alliances and constant intrigue. Pope calixtus iii, his nephew pope alexander iv, his son cesare, and his daughter lucrezia. He was popular with the common people, but deeply resented by the clergy, and his family was hated. Strathern follows the family line, beginning with the first borgia pope, callixtus iii, alfons. When cardinal rodrigo borgia buys his way into the papacy as. I presonally liked the family by mario puzo, a 2001 novel. The borgias are the most infamous family of renaissance italy, and their history normally hinges around four key individuals. Lucrezia borgia was the daughter of future pope alexander vi, and her three marriages into influential families helped build the political power of her own family. The rise and fall of the most infamous family in history. Paul strathern, a polymath author of prizewinning fiction and several works of history, brings his narrative verve to bear on this notorious family in the borgias.
Borgia family, spanish borja, descendants of a noble line, originally from valencia, spain, that established roots in italy and became prominent in ecclesiastical and political affairs in the 1400s and 1500s. While staying within the same general historical time, the borgias and their enemies give plenty of new information that history readers will. For those new to the history of renaissance italy, stratherns book is a. He is pope by reason of being bishop of rome and thus, according to roman catholic belief, successor in the see of rome the holy see to its first bishop, st. See more ideas about the borgias, renaissance and history. The borgias, he writes, were often better than they appeared. Meyer does the most surprising thing, and offers a revisionist history of the borgias that argues that pope alexander was an active church reformer, cesare his nephew one of the great men. If you thought you knew the borgias, this book will surprise you. Sweeping aside the gossip, slander, and distortion that have shrouded the borgias for centuries, g. If the borgias werent as bad as they have often seemed, therefore, the background to their unfortunate and illdeserved reputation leaves us with a rather more interesting and engaging history. The pope therefore claims to be the shepherd of all christians and representative vicar or vicegerent of christ. She had three political marriages, arranged for her familys advantage, and likely had several adulterous alliances.
Meyer offers an unprecedented portrait of the infamous renaissance. Well known for his histories of norman sicily, venice, the byzantine empire and the mediterranean, john julius norwich has now turned his attention to the oldest continuing institution in the world, tracing the papal line down the centuries from st peter himself traditionally though by no means historically the first pope to the present benedict xvi. Power, money, and ambition in the italian renaissance lays out the history of the infamous italian clan, whose members included popes and political leaders during the renaissance. For the uninitiated, it is a fantastic introduction to the spanish family who came within a whisker of achieving a chokehold over the italian peninsula in the early 1500s.
List of books and articles about borgias online research. This intellectually satisfying historical saga, which offers blood and beauty. Unlike print books, digital books are subject to vat. Some members of the family became known for their treachery. The borgias on apple books apple books apple apple. Clearly this week was a fine time to be reading and finishing a book about popes and the underpinnings of papal renaissance history. Daughter of pope alexander vi and sister of cesare, she is often accused of sharing in their many crimes and excesses but was more. The sensational story of the rise and fall of one of the most notorious families in history, by the author of the medici. As the events progressed to the election on the second ballot of francis i on my television, i held in my hand a superb. Hibberts previous books include the house of medici. The borgias and their enemies book by christopher hibbert. His nephew rodrigo became pope as alexander vi, and rodrigos illegitimate children were cesare and lucrezia borgia. I thoroughly enjoyed this excellent history of the borgias, particularly of rodrigo who became pope alexander, and his children cesare and lucretia. Then you can start reading kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer no kindle device required.
As a history, the borgias offers a vivid insight into the hothouse world of papal politics in the tumultuous years before the reformation. The borgias by sarah dunant, the family by mario puzo, madonna of the. Corruption, incest, ruthless megalomania, avarice and vicious cruelty all have been associated with their name. Meyer offers an unprecedented portrait of the infamous renaissance family and their storied milieu. The actual borgias were a spanish family, and when rodrigos uncle became pope calixtus iii he was made into a cardinal. As a result, the 11year reign of rodrigo borgia pope alexander vi is still, to many, the most notorious in papal history. The borgias is incredibly readable and one struggles to put it down.
Enter your mobile number or email address below and well send you a link to download the free kindle app. Throughout a tumultuous halfcenturyas popes, statesmen, warriors, lovers, and breathtakingly ambitious political adventurersthey held center stage in the glorious and blooddrenched pageant known to us as the italian renaissance, standing at the epicenter of the power. Like the showtime tv series, the book has a factual core. The borgias became prominent in ecclesiastical and political affairs in the 15th and 16th centuries, producing two popes. They were from aragon, the surname being a toponymic from the town of borja, then in the crown of aragon, in spain the borgias became prominent in ecclesiastical. Although some papal families such as the colonna owned huge tracts of land, the majority such as the piccolomini and the della rovere started out as cashstrapped minor nobles, or in the borgias case as landless foreigners, and popes from this latter group naturally encouraged their. Pope alexander vi, lucrezia and cesare are the legendary. Lucrezia borgia, italian noblewoman and a central figure of the infamous borgia family of the italian renaissance. Borgias got a bad press, book claims a new book that draws on documents in the vatican secret archive tries to debunk some of the darkest stories about the muchmaligned borgias. Mallett gives a detailed background to the era before he plunges to the history of the spanishborn borgia family, who made a bid to create a papal dynasty in renaissance italy. The novel is about pope alexander vi rodrigo borgia and his family. Historians debate whether or not borgia was an active participant in her notorious familys crimes, but interest in her has inspired countless works of art, books, and films. In this accessible look behind the curtain, novelist and historian strathern the medici. Thanks to the actions of the middle pair, the family name is associated with greed, power, lust and murder.
1055 581 43 709 1219 281 339 1525 1325 372 1477 1141 268 1123 87 55 530 642 70 641 1110 857 50 478 298 1588 244 94 421 654 663 1238 291 1218 1089 280 1029